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Forecasts Predict More Spam in 2007

Spam in December 2006 accounted for nearly 90% of all e-mails sent. But that is not bad enough when we hear what Secure Computing has to say. The world IT security specialist has predicted that the figure will rise to 97% by 2007 end.

The firm says spammers will reach that height by continuing to apply multiple techniques to distribute spam and escape detection. The solution lies in IT managers spreading awareness among users about spam and to adopt perimeter-based security with multiple detection programs that would not even allow such messages to enter the network.

It is the combined duty of all in the IT industry to provide optimum security for its customers. To defend against the present days' ever-changing threats, corporations need to plan out more than the conventional network protection through firewalls and routers that were appropriate in late 90s, says John McNulty, chairman, president and CEO of Secure Computing.

As people get savvier with traditional spam techniques, new threats will come up with 2006 witnessing growth of image-based spam. This type of spam will continue to be the activities of phishers and scammers, according to the company's predictions.

With more than 450,000 distinct zombies emerging everyday, a new threat grows. Secure Computing views that it will become even hard to identify and shut down zombies as their command and control becomes increasingly decentralized. The company predicts that zombies will become more smart and self-sufficient and there will be a prevalence of massive numbers of distributed zombies attacking organizations and individual consumers.

According to Jay Chaudhry, chief strategy officer and vice-chairman of Secure Computing, as the security scenario changes rapidly there is need for constant innovation. That would prove healthy since businesses and customers are not prepared to take risks with their security solutions.

The virus scene in 2007 will have more of e-mail based worms. They would specifically target data file formats such as multimedia files and productivity and document applications.

More importantly, organized crime will flood the Internet with more ruthless attacks. So the industry must educate its IT personnel and develop universal technology to remain ahead.